Ohio Democratic Star, Nina Turner, To Keynote Single-Payer Conference

An Ohio Democrat from Cleveland who left the constraints of public office in the Ohio Senate after becoming term-limited and losing a race for secretary of state in the same year, Nina Turner is the model of an out-spoken politician.

Turner has been seen as a rising star for Democrats. The Clevelander formed a partnership of sorts with David Pepper from Cincinnati in 2014, when they called dubbed themselves the “election protection” team. Turner lost her statewide race as did Pepper, with the latter rising to Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party and the former becoming a sought-after commentator on national political talk shows.

Turner spoke at The People’s Summit in Chicago, June 17, 2016, on why she decided to back Senator Bernie Sanders for President, and “why her mother’s early death called her to the fight for $15 and single-payer healthcare, and lessons from her grandmother about the wishbone, the jawbone, and the backbone.”

“We can’t have a testimony without a test. And we are being tested whether we have courage enough, conviction enough, people power enough to stand up and do what is right for ourselves and generations yet unborn,” she says, according to Healthcare-Now.

Per conference promotion, “You are invited to join hundreds of activists for a weekend of inspiration and strategy to win single-payer national health insurance! This year’s national Strategy Conference will be hosted in New York, where the Campaign for New York Health has passed single-payer legislation through the state Assembly the past two years and is closing in on legislation in the Senate.

“The conference also takes place one week before the Presidential Inauguration, providing space for new activists and experienced leaders alike to learn best organizing practices from around the country and analyze the challenges and opportunities facing the single-payer movement this coming year.”

Turner is among the political players in the pool of Ohio Democrats who could run for governor in 2018. She’s also in the pool of Democratic candidates who might also run for mayor of Cleveland. Turner is currently a member of ODP’s executive committee.